Wednesday, August 31, 2005

“Pilgrims, Martyrs and Saints”: The Death of New Orleans

I’ve been locked into this for days. On break, my boys with their mother this week, I can’t turn it off.

To me, it seems like everyone is in denial. The Mayor of New Orleans was quoted a couple hours ago saying that hundreds or thousands are probably dead in the city, and Wolf Blitzer said that this idea shocked him. How can it shock him? Seeing the pictures, listening to the reports, understanding the numbers of people who did not evacuate, how can anyone not expect thousands dead?

It seems almost certain that there are more dead than on 9/11. Will it reach Galveston numbers, 6,000 to 10,000? That seems to me to be the real question. And it seems very possible.

Imagine if there had been a direct hit. Actually, it may not be possible to imagine this. I suspect that instead of rooftops poking out of vast lakes we would just see the unbroken, still surfaces of vast lakes.

And I do not want to hear anymore about how oil prices will make us all victims of the hurricane. Paying an extra buck at the pump compares in no way to death, the death of loved ones, or the loss of everything that makes life worth living.

A million plus refugees, most likely. Not waiting to be allowed to go home, but with no home, no job, no nothing… just memories of what has been lost.

Everyone acts like this will be over when the water is drained. It took hundreds of years to build this city. It took hours to destroy it. Does anyone expect a New Year’s Eve broadcast from partiers on Bourbon Street this year? Next year? The year after?

Say a prayer for the survivors. Say a prayer for the dead.

Though such a political statement my not be appropriate here, remember… if we spend $100 Billion rebuilding the Gulf Coast, it is less than we spend in one year on our military activities in Iraq.

If any good comes out of this, than it should be a new perspective on our priorities as a nation.